By Sarah Roebuck
Police1
BIDDEFORD, Maine — A 15-person roster of 911 dispatchers lowered to just eight employees in one Maine city as people quit a “pressure cooker job” for less stress or better pay elsewhere, Police Chief JoAnne Fisk told WMTW.
The City of Biddeford is now offering fully certified dispatchers $41 an hour to help fill in the gaps on a part-time basis, an increase of $10 more an hour.
To help fill gaps, Biddeford is also offering a $2,000 bonus for city employees who refer others who get jobs. This comes after Biddeford adopted a four-day workweek with paid lunch periods to try to make jobs more appealing, according to city manager Jim Bennet.
The number of service calls within the City of Biddeford ranges from 600 to 650 per week over the last two months, according to Biddeford Police weekly reports.